Ginsburg reveals a mistake in her voter ID dissent; corrected opinion is posted
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has corrected her dissent in a voter ID case after a blogging law professor pointed out an error.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced the revision on Wednesday, a change from the common practice in which corrections are quietly made. Legal Times and SCOTUSblog have stories on the revised opinion, available here (PDF).
Ginsburg’s dissent, issued at 5 a.m. on Saturday, had disagreed with a Supreme Court order allowing Texas’ voter ID law to take effect for early voting.
Ginsburg’s dissent, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, said the Texas law’s procedures are “the strictest regime in the country.” Texas restricts the number of acceptable identifications, Ginsburg said, citing some examples. “Nor will Texas accept photo ID cards issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs,” she wrote.
University of California at Irvine law professor Richard Hasen, writing at his Election Law Blog, said Ginsburg was apparently wrong about the veteran IDs.
The sentence about Veterans Affairs IDs has now been deleted. In addition, Ginsburg made “small stylistic changes” on two pages of her opinion, the court said.
